Health Scan: Lifestyle Q&A

John Murray, presenter of the John Murray Showon RTÉ Radio One

Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?

I’m healthier than I used to be. At 17, I developed rheumatoid arthritis: that stopped me in my tracks. I wasn’t able to walk freely and was on medication. It’s only recently the symptoms have gone. I’ve started exercising and looking after myself a bit more. I’ve lost a stone and a half in the last nine months.

How often do you exercise?

I’m an obsessive walker now. I’ll do three or four miles a day, five or six days a week – anywhere there’s a circuit. I’ll put on the iPod and listen to music rather than the radio – at the moment it’s Arcade Fire’s new album. Whereas I’d have to drag myself to a gym, I enjoy walking. It’s a great way to clear the head. With the new show, I rarely stop thinking of ideas, except of course when I’m walking with Miriam, my wife. Then I’m not thinking about the show.

Do you get your five a day?

I’d have a bowl of mixed fruit for breakfast, an apple or a pear at lunch and veg with my dinner – so yes, I’d get five a day without trying too hard. Before I lost weight, I’d open the press and go for the biscuits, now it’s fruit.

Do you worry?

People have said I seem very laid back, but I probably do worry a bit too much. I’d worry unnecessarily about things I haven’t got around to doing – little niggles that can just annoy you.

What do you do to relax?

I love to walk and listen to music. We live quite near Dundrum, so we go to the cinema quite a bit too. I love going to see sports or watching them on TV.

What’s your unhealthiest habit?

Coffee. I'd drink about six Americanos a day – is that a lot? On Morning Ireland, I'd have consumed about three cups midway through the programme and would be gagging for another. I packed in the fags about 12 years ago. Monday to Friday, I live like a monk. I try not to have coffee after 4pm. I could give up I suppose, but then I'd be totally without blemish!

In conversation with JOANNE HUNT